prudent
Syllables: pru·dentUK/ˈpɹuː.dənt//ˈpɹu.dənt/
prudent adjective: sagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct.
Adjective
prudent (comparative more prudent, superlative most prudent)
- Sagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct.
- It is prudent to consult a physician before beginning any new exercise regimen.
- Moſes,[…]eſtabliſht a grave and prudent Law,[…].1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC, page 26
- Synonyms:
- careful, considerate, discreet, alert, attentive, cautelous, cautious, canny, chary, circumspect
- Antonyms:
- careless, cursory, derelict, heedless, irregardless, irrespective, lash, lax, incautious, neglectful
- Practically wise, judicious, shrewd.
- His prudent career moves reliably brought him to the top.
- A prudent man foreſeeth the euill, and hideth himſelfe: but the ſimple paſſe on, and are puniſhed.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 22:3–3, column 2
- Synonyms:
- astute, clairvoyant, deep, frood, grounded, judicious, oracular, perspicacious, politic, profound
- Antonyms:
- asinine, balmy, barmy, bedaft, loony, daft, derpy, dim-headed, dim-witted, dopey
- Frugal; economical; not extravagant.
- Only prudent expenditure may provide quality within a restrictive budget.
- Synonyms:
- abstemious, canny, chary, moderate, cheap, close with a buck, economic, economical, frugal, provident
- Antonyms:
- extravagant, improvident, imprudent, lavish, loose-handed, prodigal, profligate, reckless, spendthrift, squandering
prudent meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
prudent in Hindi
- विवेकपूर्ण, विवेकशील
prudent in Marathi
- विवेकशील
prudent in Urdu
- prudent, witty, sensible
- سمجھدار samajhdār
prudent in Bengali
- বিচক্ষণ এবং সতর্ক
More languagesFewer languages
- prudent in Malayalam
- വിവേകമുള്ള, കാര്യശേഷിയുള്ള
- prudent in Kannada
- ಎಚ್ಚರಿಕೆಯ, ಅರಿವುಳ್ಳ, ದುಡುಕದ, ವಿವೇಕಯುತ
- prudent in Gujarati
- વિવેકપૂર્ણ
- prudent in Sanskrit
- कवि kavi
- prudent in Nepali
- विवेकपूर्ण, विवेकशील
- prudent in Arabic
- حَرِيص ḥarīṣ, حَكِيم ḥakīm
Examples of prudent in a sentence
- It would be prudent to continue on to Omaha, for it would be dangerous to return to the train, which the Indians might still be engaged in pillaging.1864, Jules Verne, chapter 30, in Around the World in 80 Days, archived from the original on 12 Apr 2012:
- Brunel's misgivings were proved prudent, tragically, in the 1879 failure of Thomas Bouch's Tay bridge (once a monument to cast iron, now a memorial to many lives lost).2025 March 5, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Remembering Brunel's timber viaducts”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 60:
Synonyms of prudent
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of prudent
| comparative | more prudent |
|---|---|
| superlative | most prudent |
Origin of prudent
Inherited from Middle English prudent, from Old French prudent, from Latin prūdēns, contracted from prōvidēns (“foresight”) (English providence), the present participle of prōvideō (“to forsee; to provide for”). Unrelated to prude. Doublet of provident. Displaced native Old English glēaw.
Words formed from prudent
Phrases with prudent
Words that rhyme with prudent
Questions about prudent
- What does prudent mean?
- Prudent means sagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct.
- What is prudent in Hindi?
- Prudent in Hindi is विवेकपूर्ण, विवेकशील. See Prudent meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use prudent in a sentence?
- It would be prudent to continue on to Omaha, for it would be dangerous to return to the train, which the Indians might still be engaged in pillaging.
- What part of speech is prudent?
- Prudent is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce prudent?
- Prudent is pronounced /ˈpɹuː.dənt/ (UK).
Words near prudent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prudent (page history and authors); prudent (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prudent (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); سمجھدار (Urdu) (page history and authors); prudent (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prudent (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prudent (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prudent (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); prudent (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-prudent.ogg.
Cite this entry: “prudent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prudent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.